It's a Gundam thread!

I'm not asking it to debate religion. I do however find that, given 00's frequent use of Middle Eastern settings, constant references to God, and all of that, that the subject is as sparesly covered as it is. Not to mention that, let's face it, in Season 1, Setsuna, for all that he's the protagonist, is a Middle Eastern terrorist. Allied with an Irish terrorist. Way to send a message Gundam.

EDIT: Anyone think Japanese sci-fi in general and Gundam in particular should get more scholastic attention? I'm taking a sci-fi course right now and all we talk about is Western sci-fi. I have to keep reminding myself not to bring up examples from Gundam during class discussions, since no one in my class seems familiar with them. Would love to actually see a study of say, gender roles in Gundam, since say what you will about him, Tomino at least tries to address them, something a lot of Japanese stuff doesn't. Or the role of the superweapon. Or best of all, as a work of military SF. It certainly wouldn't be any dumber than some of the studies that have been done on Star Trek, Star Wars, or Doctor Who.

edited 5th Mar '12 10:32:23 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar

Only if it gives other non-Western Sci-Fi a chance to shine.

Why not? Fact is, most cultures have produced some good SF. Also some terrible SF. I figure the more good SF from around the world we look at, the less bad SF from any particular culture we get subjected to.

EDIT: Question—having watched some, though not all of ZZ I have to ask: why in the Hell did Haman clone Gihren Zabi? Was it so she'd still have a Zabi heir around in case Mineva died?

EDIT: My god. I do not like Lalah Sune. I just watched the episode where she bites it and I do not feel a lot of empathy for her. Maybe it's because she wasn't in the show for long. Maybe it's because her "relationship" with Amuro is really forced. Maybe it's because her total characterisation adds up to "Char is good, you are bad" but...God. I. Do. Not. Like. This. Girl. She's not a character, she's a plot device.

EDIT: On a more positive note, anybody got a decent picture of Mirai? I'm trying to add pictures to all the Gundam pages and I cannot for the life of me find a decent picture of her during the One Year War. Not even on My Anime List. Help would be appreciated; she's the only major member of the White Base's crew that I haven't filled in yet.

What's that? Why no, I don't have a life. Why do you ask?

edited 9th Mar '12 3:07:52 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar

Does anyone have a link to episodes 3 & 4 of Unicorn? I wanted to marathon Unicorn before episode 5 comes out but it's like they've been removed from the internet.

edited 14th Mar '12 9:09:03 AM by sirnoob

Glemy was around during the One Year War, long before Haman came to power. Assuming he's telling the truth, cloning him was probably Gihren's idea.

GUYS, LOOK

edited 14th Mar '12 9:51:36 AM by sirnoob

For a more academic tangent...

...How fast is 20 g's of acceleration? (yes this is based off the Victory 2 Gundam)

edited 14th Mar '12 9:58:54 AM by Nitramy

Wikipedia has a nice chart to compare the G-forces caused by various things.

That would be 20 times the rate of the acceleration of gravity at sea level on the surface of the earth (A g is 9.8 meters per second squared), so you multiply that by 20 and you get about 196 meters per second squared.

edited 14th Mar '12 10:09:19 AM by Scherzo09

In other words, at full throttle the V2 would reach 196 m/s (or 705.698 km/h|441 mph) in a second. And yes, that is monstrously quick.

Out of curiosity, I checked its specs in mahq, and if you account for the typo (a lack of a zero), the acceleration does apply to the entire mobile suit since it weights 16 tonnes at most (note that it is just 15 meters tall) and has 2 main engines, each of them capable of producing 167 tonnes of thrust, which certainly explains how it's exhaust extends for a mile. To put this into perspective, all four engines of the 747-8 (which usually weighs ~400 tonnes at takeoff) together produce about 121 tonnes of thrust (3/4s of just one of the V2's engines!).

As you may also know, the human body cannot resist that force; I think that the mobile suit was deliberately over spec to account for the weight of the expansion packs, since the V2 assault buster is listed as having twice the weight, thus lowering the straight line acceleration to a borderline acceptable 10 G's. Unless you just dismiss the previous as Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale.

edited 14th Mar '12 1:22:49 PM by luislucas

Thank you. Given that he's 17 he would have been what, around nine or ten during the One Year War? Gihren probably did it because no woman in Zeon was dumb enough to sleep with him after about ten seconds of coversation.

EDIT: Just finished the original show. Pretty damn good, though god is Char ever overrated. I found him a lot less Magnificent Bastard and a lot more Smug Snake (honestly, I find the Zabis to be more interesting villains). His sister was cool though, and Amuro grew on me after a while, as did Bright, Kai, and most of the White Base crew (Hayato and Frau, on the other hand, can just go away). The animation's bad, the voice acting is stilted, and there are some pretty big plot holes, but overall it's a really good story, and it still manages to be enjoyable, something a lot of older shows simply cannot do. Glad I watched it.

edited 14th Mar '12 9:01:42 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar

Remember that Tomino characters lie - a lot - and Glemy looks nothing like Gihren. Even if they are related, it's not guaranteed he was a clone of the guy.

I think Char works less as an Anti-Hero and more of a Knights Templar along the lines of Light Yagami; someone who is so self-assured of the justification for his actions he's willing to use anyone to get what he wants; And I think that's probably a reaction to growing up in an environment where he could trust no one, how his family was betrayed by the Zabis'. I think after Lalah dies, any bit of compassion he had died as well.

I honestly kinda like the VA work for MSG; of course its pretty stilted, but I did feel that most of people did get into their roles.

edited 15th Mar '12 11:28:26 AM by Scherzo09

I think that Chars Counterattack is the point where he really jumps off the slippery slope with his Colony Drop scheme.

Of course at the same time, a little plastic surgery could also explain that little problem. Personally I've always liked that theory, if only because it's an example of cloning where the clone has many similarities to the parent figure (personality wise, I mean), but is not an exact knockoff. There aren't enough of those in science-fiction.

Honestly I think that "antihero" aspect is one of the problems that I have with the character—he's a villain in action, behaviour, and personality, yet the show, and even more so the fanbase want me to treat him like a hero. End result, I can't Love to Hate him the way I could Gihren, yet I can't like him either. Hype Backlash may also be playing a role, but honestly I don't find him that impressive.

With regards to the MSG voice acting...the dub voices are good in the sense of "they match the character." And in some cases (like Bright, who has a stick up his hinder) the stilted nature of the dialogue isn't so bad. For others though, it really is a problem. I found Michael Kopsa's Char to be almost impossible to listen to, his dialogue is so awkward and so stilted—which is a problem in a character who is supposed to be a smooth-talker.

That's where he totally loses it, but even in MSG he's a whiny, self-righteous prick, and he never really gets over it. In my book, at least, it doesn't make for great bad guy material.

edited 15th Mar '12 11:39:10 AM by AmbarSonofDeshar

I did like Char's VA work honestly, though I think it and a lot of the dialogue in general could be written more naturally.

As for Char's personality, I don't think the show itself portrays Char as being particularly heroic. I mean, the show goes out of its way to show that Garma is actually, despite all his character flaws, a pretty decent guy who's just way over his head. I think its later stuff that really tries to whitewash his history... although some stuff even makes him MORE of an asshole, sacrificing his friend, the REAL Char Aznable, so he may live in Char's Deleted Affair.

Zeta springs to mind when one discusses whitewashing. Char's Quattro persona and his real one...they just don't add up to me. And then he swings all the way to the one he has in Chars Counterattack...I swear the man's got DID or something.

On the VA thing, I don't think Michael Kopsa's voice was a bad choice. It's his delivery I have problems with. He also did the dub in CCA if memory serves, and I think it's much better there (although it has been a long time since I've seen that movie).

edited 15th Mar '12 2:43:54 PM by AmbarSonofDeshar

I haven't seen Zeta, but Quattro's personality served a purpose; to rally people against the Titans. From then on out it was moving pieces into place for CCA. To me the question is what exactly was Char doing in-between MSG and Zeta?

I remember the voice being the same, that kinda weird monotone. I think he's a better fit for Char than Steve Blum though.

edited 15th Mar '12 2:56:54 PM by Scherzo09

I haven't seen the compilation movies so I wouldn't know how Blum performs. If he did a bad job I'll be surprised though—he's usually very good.

Once again, I can follow MSG Char to CCA. It's Zeta Char that I can't figure out? Was it all a ruse? Did he get hit in the head? Did his personality change due to oxygen deprivation? I mean seriously. He's one character with three personas.

Basically, he's hiding from the world in Zeta. 'Quattro Bajeena' never fooled anyone - it was just a way for him to escape responsibility for who he was and what he'd done. That was why he was so reluctant to take command of the AEUG, and half of why he was so freaked out about the idea of Zeon re-entering the war.

He accomplished the goal he'd built his entire life around in the One Year War, and with a little help from the trauma of Lalah's death, it sent him into a tailspin.

So you think he went on a soul searching sabbatical after A Boa Qu?

There's a manga detailing what happened to him between the original and Zeta: Char's Deleted Affair. The continuity is slightly different than the anime (M'Quve is alive for starters) but apparently it's good.

Am now watching Zeta. And I've gotta say, it's given me a great idea for a drinking game—everytime someone says "is he/she a Newtype" you take a shot. Better use beer though, if you don't want to end up in the hospital. Seriously, I hear them praise Newtypes one more time and I am starting the Yazan Gable fanclub.

Otherwise, pretty good. Char's still a worthless slimeball (I love how the show wants me to forget how bad he was, mostly by having everyone else shill him. I mean seriously, "Char Aznable was a great man?" Seriously Kamille?) but otherwise, pretty good. Not hard to see why Emma Sheen's such an Ensemble Dark Horse, and Kamille's alright.

By the way—anyone else wish they'd included Bask Om's backstory in the show instead of just in side materials? The whole "tortured by Zeon" thing nicely explains how he got to be the utter bastard that he is, and would give his character a little more humanity.

To be fair, how would Kamille or most of the feddies know about how much of a dick Char was? All they know was the legend and propaganda pushed by the Zekes of him being a brilliant and noble warrior; they don't know of how he used people in his petty quest for revenge.

edited 18th Mar '12 12:42:55 AM by Scherzo09